I am trying to figure out my application plan for this cycle, and I was wondering if I could get some advice from the community. Before the October LSAT, I was hoping for a 172/173 (PTing 170-173), and was planning to ED Columbia. Columbia and NYU are my top choices. I ended up scoring 171 and I have a 3.52 GPA in Mechanical Engineering from USC (California).

I originally planned to have all of my applications in on the same day as Columbia's ED deadline (November 15th). At this point I have given up on ED Columbia, but I am trying to figure out whether I should ED NYU and retake in December for the RD applications, or just RD all my schools after December scores come out. I am fairly confident I can get up to a 173 with another month of heavy studying, but which is stronger? ED NYU with 3.52/171, or RD NYU sent in on January 4th-6th with 3.52/173.

I am trying to figure out my application plan for this cycle, and I was wondering if I could get some advice from the community. Before the October LSAT, I was hoping for a 172/173 (PTing 170-173), and was planning to ED Columbia. Columbia and NYU are my top choices. I ended up scoring 171 and I have a 3.52 GPA in Mechanical Engineering from USC (California).

I originally planned to have all of my applications in on the same day as Columbia's ED deadline (November 15th). At this point I have given up on ED Columbia, but I am trying to figure out whether I should ED NYU and retake in December for the RD applications, or just RD all my schools after December scores come out. I am fairly confident I can get up to a 173 with another month of heavy studying, but which is stronger? ED NYU with 3.52/171, or RD NYU sent in on January 4th-6th with 3.52/173.

Thank you all so much for your advice.

In terms of just getting in, probably the ED, but you are solid with 3.52/173 if you submit early January, and also have the option to negotiate schollys and apply to Columbia. I'm shooting for NYU with nearly identical numbers to you (.01 off in GPA) and not EDing anywhere.

Thanks for the feedback. Would you recommend sending in the applications now and letting the schools hold on to them, or waiting until the scores come back? I remember seeing a lot of scholarship deadlines on January 1st for most schools, but at the same time I'm worried they won't wait for the December score to come out.